SEATTLE -- A Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) assessment team will begin evaluating existing facilities for possible conversion into alternate-care-sites in Washington March 26.
At the request of FEMA and Washington State, the team and other federal and state officials are evaluating state-identified facilities. The FEMA Mission Assignment (MA) was issued to the district through the Corps’ Northwestern Division.
Corps liaisons were already in place at FEMA Region 10 and the Washington State Emergency Operations Center to facilitate a quick response should the need arise to have additional alternate-care-sites constructed.
“Seattle District employees, and USACE personnel around the country, are working diligently to assist in a time of crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has created for our nation and its healthcare network,” said Seattle District Commander Col. Mark Geraldi.
Overall, USACE has received six FEMA MAs totaling about $361 million, and USACE has 15,000 personnel engaged in the response effort and providing support.
Information pertaining to specifications and implementation of alternate care sites is available on the Corps’ web at https://www.usace.army.mil/Coronavirus/Alternate-Care-Sites/.
Contractors interested in working on these sites throughout Washington, should the need arise, are asked to review the memo from the USACE director of Contracting on what you can do to help at https://www.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Archive/Article/2120990/contracting-in-disasters-what-companies-can-do-to-help/. They are also asked to provide their latest capabilities statement to the Seattle District Small Business Programs Office by emailing john.s.solomon@usace.army.mil.
During emergencies, USACE is the federal government's lead public works and engineering support agency, and given its extensive work in building medical facilities for its military stakeholders is uniquely qualified to tackle this engineering challenge.
Release no. 20-014